1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital communication systems and, more particularly, to a system, method and apparatus for facilitating instant messaging (IM).
2. Description of Prior Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a computer processing system 10, as is generally known in the art, for executing software applications that allow a user to perform tasks such as, for example, communicating with other computer users, accessing various computer resources, and viewing, creating, or otherwise manipulating electronic content such as, for example, any combination of text, images, movies, music or other sounds, animations, three-dimensional works of authorship, and links to other objects. The computer processing system 10 includes various input/output (I/O) devices such as, for example, a mouse 12, keyboard 14, display 16, and a general purpose computer 20 having a central processor unit (CPU) 22, an I/O unit 24 and a memory 26 for storing data and various software applications such as, for example, an operating system (O/S) 30 and one or more application programs (APP1-APP N) shown generally at 32. Typically, the computer 20 includes a communications card or device 40 such as, for example, a modem or network adapter, for exchanging data with a network shown generally at 50, via a communications link 42 such as, a telephone line. The computer processing system 10 may be a personal computer, laptop or work station as are known in the art.
Communication between computer processing systems is well known. Networks include two or more computer processing systems located in close physical proximity to many thousands of computer processing systems connected in a worldwide network. FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a conventional computer processing network, shown generally at 100. The network 100 includes a plurality of client computer processing systems (Client 1-Client N), shown generally at 110 and configured in accordance with FIG. 1, coupled to a server 130 through a communication network 120 such as, for example, the Internet, an intranet or an extranet. Typically, a server is not a single entity (such as is shown at server 130 of FIG. 2), but is a network of interconnected server computers, in some embodiments physically dispersed from each other, each dedicated to a subset of duties and/or to a particular geographical region. In such a case, the individual servers are interconnected by a network of communication links, as is generally known in the art.
As shown in FIG. 2, a user of a client system 110 (e.g., Client 1) can access electronic content or other resources either stored locally at the user's own client system (e.g., in memory 26 of computer processing system 10) or remotely at one or more server systems 130. An example of a server system is a host computer that provides subscribers with varies forms of on-line services including digital communication. Users of a host computer's online services typically communicate with one or more central server systems 130 through client software executing on their respective client systems 110 (e.g., APP1 executing on computer processing system 10).
Different forms of digital communications have recently appeared. Examples of such digital communications includes bulletin board systems, chat rooms and instant messaging (IM). As known to those of skill in the art, the IM environment is defined in RFC 2778 and RFC 2779, which was published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Feb. of 2000, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. The IM environment provides a medium in which digital communications occurs on a near real-time basis between a sender and a recipient, thereby permitting a sender to send and receive “instant” messages to and from a recipient.
IM is generally seen as a less formal method of communicating with individuals. IM capabilities are seen to be more flexible that communicating via the telephone and/or email. This added flexibility and informality, however, has lead to some concerns in certain areas of business. That is, certain business communication and decision making needs to be secure, monitored and/or archived for later reference by authorized persons such as, for example, regulators or auditors. For example, businesses within the financial industry are required to supervise and maintain records of contacts between their employees and consumers. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has promulgated regulations that guide the use of electronic media by brokers and dealers. It is generally believed that such regulations would apply within the IM environment. Additionally, businesses within the healthcare industry must comply with regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Certain HIPAA regulations require security mechanisms to guard against unauthorized access to data that is transmitted over a communications network. It is generally believed that such regulations would apply within the IM environment.
To meet mandates established by these and other governmental regulations on communications, many corporations have struggled to adapt existing electronic communication systems facilitating IM with security, logging and other safeguards. The inventors have found many conventional systems deficient as they often require coordination of a number of individual systems to achieve all functions and capabilities required for a desired IM environment.
Accordingly, the inventors have realized that a need exists for a integrated, self-contained IM appliance as described herein.